Oldies On Tour

Sunday 18th September

After a “comfortable” and “enjoyable” nights sleep on anchor, we were ready to face the world so at a reasonable time we hoisted the anchor and set off.    Our plan was to head north making for the “National park”, an area of special sea grasses with the accompanying sea life below the water but first we have to get there.   Again we were on engine due to lack of wind, let’s hope we have wind tomorrow when we head to Frejus.

The scenery was much like yesterday, though by early afternoon it became more dramatic, and more colourful, the cliffs were steeper and there were many caves dotted about.   As we approached the “Regional National Park of Corsica”, a world heritage site, we started to “hover”, looking to anchor, when the skipper became aware of a speedboat fast approaching with a warden telling us “You Can’t Stop There”.    We moved on as the speedboat left, but once out of site we stopped anyway, obviously it was OK here as we didn’t see the warden again. 

Bathing platform lowered and we were in the sea; today it seemed much warmer so stayed in longer.   Christine did a little snorkelling but her equipment wasn’t quite right so soon stopped.    Today the boys went off to explore some of the caves that were about in this bay.  Sitting on board gazing up onto the cliffs we were amazed to see a green film covering on the rugged rocks, it looked like moss or something similar, perhaps this is what causes the sea grass to grow so vigorously and attract so much marine life, hence the “National Park”. Once all-aboard we headed of, our destination was “Marine de Porto”, a couple of miles further along the coast.

Naturally we couldn’t get into the harbour so anchored away from the entrance.  Tonight we’re heading out to eat.   Christine, Louis and myself were the first boatload and the first thing that struck us were the numerous ribs, small passenger boats and even a semi-submarine moored out in lines across the harbour.   This place has been built up with the tourists visiting all the wonders of the area, everywhere you look there are restaurants and “booths” selling excursions, and oh yes, one small convenience small supermarket.  There was also a hotel on the quayside with a rather nice looking restaurant and a decent fish menu, so the three of us settled for that.   The rest of the crew also came ashore but had somewhere else in mind to go.   Andrew stayed on board with Elton who had already eaten.

We had an excellent meal with copious amounts of locally produced superb wines, and completed with a few Jack Daniels; we were ready to be collected.   On our way back we were surprised how many other boats were now anchored in this “Gulf of Porto”, obviously a regular anchorage.

Back on board, Louis and I had a few more nightcaps and the crew joined us and some “sea-yarns” were exchanged before heading to bed: tomorrow we head to Frejus, 100 miles away, we just hope the weather forecast is right and we will have wind!!!!!

Saturday 17th September 2023

We arrived in the port town of Ajaccio around 0800hrs, hot, sticky, smelly and tired; a cabin with 5 is not recommended.  To make matters worse, there was no AirCon ventilation and it was an inside cabin, still we were better off than those sleeping in the corridors: I think??   Probably the only good things about the trip was last nights meal and  how calm the sea was.

We were first off the ferry, couldn’t wait, and headed to the marina and whilst waiting for the tender to arrive,  grabbed some breakfast.   

“Elton”(the name of the yacht) was at anchor about 100 meters outside the port entrance and surprisingly we managed to get the five of us with our bags and pushchair plus the skipper into the dingy, but we were lucky with the sea state.    Once aboard and settled in we weighed anchor and the plan was:-  well no real plan other than get the boat back to Frejus by Monday night.
Andrew and Christine went into town to get victuals, and a wander around, whilst the crew filled boat up with water.

We headed north along the west side of the island passing stunning and dramatic rock formations and a very barren landscape; no habitation though we did pass a few beautiful, tucked away coves with lovely sandy beaches.  With Elton XL being 120ft, we couldn’t stop in them, they were too small but eventually we found one large enough where we had a swim off the boat in the Christal clear water, though a little on the chilly side.  This was probably due to the fact we were so hot, the sun has been relentless and no wind to cool us down.  
Whilst at Anchor the boys got the “toys” out and they all went water skiing , paddle boarding and wake surfing.  By the time these activities had finished it was late so stayed the night here on anchor.

Friday 16th September 2023

Nothing planned for today other than a swim, a walk and tonight an overnight ferry to Corsica, but first feed the dogs and ourselves.

Andrew took us up to the top of one of a local mountain for a walk and a observation spot to admire the views overlooking the clear, blue  Mediterranean.   The walk for me was too much so I stayed with the car and chatted with several cyclists who had just cycled up this mountain, albeit with electric bikes!!!   

Early evening we headed to Toulon to catch the overnight ferry to Corsica, we knew we had tickets but only one cabin; there were 4-adults and a 2+ year old!!!

The port looked very organised for cars but for foot passengers, that was a different matter. We walked the the length of the ship to get to the terminal and when called, we had to walk all the way back; oh no, it would have been “too” easy to go direct!!!   The one good thing is the escalator on board, no queuing for the lift or no stairs to climb!!!

The first port of call was the Purser’s office to get a second cabin; no chance, fully booked🥵; OK dump the bags, have a meal with a “fair” amount of alcohol and hopefully we may get some sleep!!!!!   

The restaurant food was excellent but the service was woeful; lots of chiefs but few Indians  so the simplest request took for ever to get resolved.

After the nice food and walking back to our cabin we passed numerous people sleeping on the floor, in passageways and any other “nook or cranny” they could curl up in.   Apparently this is the norm!!!!

Fortunately Andrew had booked a de-lux cabin, well in name that is, though it had slightly more floor space “we think🤔”,   The night started with Elton on the floor next to Christine, Andrew and ion the bottom bunks and Louis on the top.   What I hadn’t realised when we finally got into the cabin after a couple of bottles of wine and a couple of Cognacs later that  it was an inside cabin with no air-con, wow it was hot, stuffy and smelly.   There was a change round of sleeping arrangements during the night, Christine swapped with Andrew after Elton woke up.    

It was going to be a long night!!!   

Thursday 15th September 

No rush today as we’re not due at Andrew’s until 1800hrs, so whilst Christine took the dogs for a long walk I serviced the usual, water etc., etc.   Once she returned with two knackered pooches, we had our breakfast before heading off to “Chateau Cabrieres”, our original Chateauneuf du Pape wine supplier but again, wrong time of the day!!!  This is another “Passion France” site and in the past we’ve used them as a stop-over, but, we couldn’t remember their address other than it was on one of the many roads exiting Chateauneuf, and there are many.   After racking our brains, Christine suddenly remembered that in 2017 whilst I was in New Zealand she raided my “Bodiga” and “purloined” one of the bottles from this vineyard, then sent me a photo of the “incident”  to “wind me up”!!!!!      Anyway, the picture was retrieved from her archive and of course the label had the name of the vineyard so “hey-presto” we  knew where to go.

It was again mid morning when we arrived, not the ideal time to enjoy a wine tasting session but it had to be done.   We tasted several, all very nice and difficult to choose but eventually got there and exited with a couple of cases; more weight, poor Rosie🥵.  Having “enjoyed” several samples, we decided to stay in their car park for lunch, give the wine time to be “digested”, after all we’re all right for time an besides there is a nice run for the dogs alongside the rows of vines.

Time to say good bye to our wine journey, far too short but we have no doubt we will be back, “soon”!!!!!!, as we headed off to Andrew’s.    Being a Friday afternoon the traffic was particularly heavy so to ensure we met our arrival time took to the Peage for the final part of our journey.   

Arriving at Andrew’s hot, sticky and tired we headed into the house and quicker than you can say “”Jack Robinson”” Tom-Tom threw himself into the pool, with Rosie taking a little more encouragement and only when we joined TT in the pool.

Andrew arrived with Elton later in the evening, but by then we had “hit-the-sac”, tired and content,  

Tuesday 13th September 

After a reasonable night with thunder, lightening and heavy rain, we emerged less tired and in the clear “light-of-day” decided to return to our “old haunt” here in Pouilly, the other chap’s loss is “Francis Blanchet’s” gain; we’ve been here many times and just thought we’d give another vineyard a try, ha!!    Of course this plan was quite flawed as we did our “degustation” at 10.30 in the morning, not a good idea as we had to drive after!!!!!    

Francis Blanchet is on the outskirts of Pouilly-sur-Loire and is a traditional vineyard that has been in the family since the 18th century, though their buildings are certainly modern and their equipment looks “state of the art”; this is the first time we’ve been here during the grape-picking season so they were very busy, not to busy to sell of course!!!

Our objective here was to select a white wine for my 80th bash, so after tasting a selection, we eventually settled for “Kristina”, very quaffable and promptly bought 4-cases, should be enough!!!!!  

Prior to leaving, a tractor with a fully laden trailer arrived to discharge the grapes and we were invited to observe.  The operation was quite interesting as the pressing process actually starts in the trailer whilst the grapes are being loaded and being driven back to the winery.    They connect two pipes to the trailer, the lower one sucks all the grape juice that’s just been pressed “au natural” and the other pipe sucks out the un-pressed grapes straight into the crusher after which it joins the other juice and heads into the fermentation vessels.   At this point they drew off some of the freshly pressed juice and gave us a glass; a bit on the sweet side, but very more-ish.

After stowing the wine away, we headed off.  This evening we want to stay at a small family vineyard we found on our last trip in Bully, the Beaujolais region which is a 4- hour drive away.

Again we elected to do the N roads, keeping off the Peage and driving through rural France but it was hot, the rain has stopped and the clouds gone so we needed to find places to let the dogs have a run around.

Arriving at the “Domaine de Roche Cattin”, the  vineyard in Bully we found on our previous trip through France is also a family affair.    Again this is their busy time and we were lucky to get a spot in their parking area, as it was full of the “grape-pickers” cars.   This small operation isn’t quite in the same league as this morning’s but hey, they produce very nice Beaujolais.   This evening’s tasting was better as we were here for the night so could go the “full Hogg”!!!!!!   “Eventually” we chose “La Passion de Mon Pere” and promptly bought another 4-cases for my 80th, hopefully we now have sufficient for the “Party”.  

Once the transaction had taken place we were invited to view their operation and again we  sampled their grape juice before it went into their large fermentation vats.

What a day, two totally different wine tastings, a long drive in the heat and a motorhome with rather an excess of weight!!!!

Monday 12th September 2023

Up and about as planned then hit the road.  Today we have a long stint making for a vineyard in the Pouilly region on the Loire, by missing out the “Peage” routes, the drive time alone is 7-hours, hence the early start.

By missing out the motorway’s we were reminded of days gone by, driving through rural France on the old “N” routes and passing through numerous villages and hamlets normally missed out whilst “speeding” along the autoroutes, was a pleasant change; well it was for me, Christine felt differently!!!!!   I suppose it’s very boring sitting twiddling your fingers for mile after mile, hour after hour.   The only downside for me were all the roundabouts we encountered, every junction seems to be a roundabout in France, and yes, it was boiling hot all day making the dogs uncomfortable as well.

We eventually arrived at the village we were heading for; a very tiny one at that when the SatNav told us to turn right between buildings that looked as if they were about to fall down, and even worse, the lane was so narrow that had we had one more coat of paint we would have scraped both sides; scary or what??  At the end we turned right onto a gravel track with no sign of the house we were looking for so had to use my best French and ring them up.   Following a brief conversation, we were informed he was “complet”, should have actually booked, serves us right😡😡, so back along the “crazy” lane and through the village.   We are members of “Passion France”, so travelling through France we can stay at numerous farms, vineyards etc., at no charge, but naturally “they” hope, (though no obligation), you will buy some of their products; wine has never been an issue with us!!!   Unfortunately this week the weather has been “just right” for picking the grapes and we suspect this was the real reason for his statement “complet”; little did he realise we were looking to buy a number of cases for my 80th; his loss!!   

We found a local and he suggested we head back down through the village, turn left and stop along the river, so that’s what we did but by now tempers were rising, dogs were fed up and words were spoken once we had parked, after all it had been a very long, and a very hot day.  

Once settled in the “empty” carpark alongside a large green area,  the chairs came out along with the corkscrew and we settled down with a bottle of wine before dinner and watched the sun go down.   Later in the evening we got Sandy’s ball out again and got the dogs running, we wanted a quiet night!!!

Originally we were leaving the U.K. a week earlier but due to the NHS consultants strike, my appointment got delayed.  We had a definitive date to be at Andrew’s to meet up with Elton so we were put under unreasonable pressure, originally we were taking 10-days to meander through France visiting “many” vineyards, still it is what it is!!!